How to resolve AdBlock issue? The Crow Hill Company CRYSTAL PIANOS
Following hot on the heels of its new concepts-embracing GONG PIANO release, The Crow Hill Company continues its strange pilgrimage of creating piano-like instruments from single resonating sources with CRYSTAL PIANOS - readily realising the Edinburgh-based enterprise’s ‘samplist-in-residence’ Christian Henson’s long-held dream of having a piano like the one played by an astronaut in the multi-talented John Carpenter’s cult classic sci-fi satire and big screen directorial debut Dark Star (1974), where hammers struck bottles and glasses instead of strings, something the former feels he has finally cracked after 22 years of experimentation, thanks to the GONG PIANO-introduced Shepherd Mapping breakthrough bringing about the creation of entirely chromatic instruments from single objects that resonate at only one pitch, put to the test with 18 different glass objects (spanning wine glasses to beakers and bowls) in the creative case of CRYSTAL PIANOS - as of March 24…
CRYSTAL PIANOS is an invitation to imagine 18 pianos where the strings have been ripped out and replaced by glass as an innovative instrument. Indeed, each piece of glassware was handpicked for its unique sonic characteristics, ranging from intimate celeste-like tones all the way through to a chorus of shimmering glass; each offering provides users with five different playing styles: Standard Hits, Muted Hits, Tremolo Slow, Tremolo Fast, and Rubs (With Finger on Rim). It is also possible to control the sonic characteristic of each glass via The Crow Hill Company’s unique ‘partial mixer’ that enables users to tweak individual sonic components of the performances — namely, FUNDAMENTALS, the most audible music note or root; HARMONICS, the surrounding frequencies mapped into chromatic shepherd tones; and TRANSIENTS, the strike tone (that asserts the material characteristics of the instrument and therefore does not change, even if the pitch of the other partials does). Ultimately, users are free to create magical melodies that do not exhibit the sentimental ‘Potter-Effect’ of a celeste or glockenspiel, or orchestrate intricate contrapuntal tapestries or, indeed, oceans of rippling glass atmospheres to bring something new and unique to their music.
Clearly, Christian Henson’s road to The Crow Hill Company’s CRYSTAL PIANOS release has been a long and winding one - one that also represents something of a cathartic release for him personally: “I’m just absolutely delighted to have arrived at a point where I finally feel that I’ve created the stinky astronaut space piano thing-y. After 22 years, I can’t begin to tell you what an incredible sense of achievement that is, and that’s thanks to the amazing team that I work with who have persevered with this, because there’s been a lot of experimentation, back and forth — should we pitch the transients slightly, should the shepherd tones be louder or quieter, etc. I’ve taken them on a journey over the last six months, and I think they’re tired of hearing me say, ‘It’s taken me 22 years to get to my stinky astronaut space piano thing-y!’”
Featuring 18 individually selected pieces of glassware recorded at Gorbals Sound Recording Studios in Glasgow, UK with a multiple - Neumann KM 84, KM 184, and U 87 - microphone setup, CRYSTAL PIANOS is available to buy for £75.00 GBP/$99.00 USD/€85.00 EUR as a sample-based virtual instrument comprising over 30 GB of uncompressed audio (compressed loosely to ~13 GB) supporting AAX-, AU-, VST-, and VST3 plug-in formats for macOS 11 through to 15 (Apple Silicon and Intel compatible) and Windows 10 through to 11 with three different and individual controllable Partial Tones, five articulations, and four included - SUB BASS, DELAY, REVERB, and SPARKLE - effects from The Crow Hill Company.
For more in-depth information, including some superb-sounding audio demos from The Crow Hill Company co-founder Christian Henson himself, please visit the dedicated CRYSTAL PIANOS webpage. CRYSTAL PIANOS installation and activation requires installation of The Crow Hill App - an easy-to-use app designed by the best in the business to provide seamless download, installation, integration, calibration, and organisation of The Crow Hill Company tools - available for free.